Enma's Protege
by Ginjaa Ninjaa
Summary: Before he handed over the reigns to Minato, Hiruzen thought that konoha would still hold the kyubi kitsune. Well now Iwa held it and yet konoha seemed stronger than ever despite the fact that he had to return to his position as the Hokage. The fact that Naruto was the jinchuuriki of the Yonbi might have had something to do with it.
1. Chapter 1

"Minato, are you sure about this!? Do you think that the seal you have ready is strong enough to hold a Bijuu!?" Kushina questioned to her partner on this mission. She wasn't entirely sure whether or not this would work. They had just defeat Roshi of the four tails and even managed to seal him up before anyone came or his seal broke. This would be a massive boon for the military firepower of konoha as they now finally had another potential jinchuuriki.

She wasn't entirely comfortable with stealing a Bijuu from another village because she knew what life would be like for the new carrier. It would not be something that was pretty to say the least.

On the other hand though, Kushina knew that she didn't have the luxury of having the moral high ground to stand on. She was the person who had her Bijuu sealed up in chains with stakes running through its limbs. Kushina knew it was cruelty but she didn't want to take any chances. Having the Kyubi have a chance of escaping was simply not an option. The red haired girl knew that damage the Kyubi could cause.

"Yes." Minato responded despite the tired visage on his face. "This seal will hold until we make it back to konoha where we can transport the Bijuu into a better container until we decide on the right jinchuuriki."

"Okay Minato. Hopefully someday soon, this war will be over and we can have a nice stable home to raise some kids." The woman who just exited her teens stated to her fiancé. Minato nodded. He definitely wanted this war to end sooner rather than later.

 **x-X-x**

"Minato!" Kushina screamed as tears poured down her face. She was at the lowest point in her life and absolutely the most painful one. Kushina Uzumaki, the resident Kyubi jinchuuriki had been captured by konoha's greatest enemy. Iwa.

Kushina was leading her team throughout the mountainous terrain of Iwa when she had been blindsided by the ANBU division of Iwagakure. She had managed to get the sole genin on this mission to escape and the last order that she gave the boy was to run as fast as he could to konoha and inform Minato of the situation.

The proud woman had lost count of how much time had passed since she had captured and they had started the extraction process of the Kyubi. She had been beaten, broken and even raped whilst she was held off the ground by chains to all four limbs.

"Please Minato, please come and save me. Be my hero." Kushina sobbed as she hated what happened to her. Nothing happened. Just when she didn't think it could get any worse, Kushina felt the final last bits of the Kyubi leaving her system. She was no longer a jinchuuriki.

Kushina passed out because of the stress that having a Bijuu extracted from you did to your body. It was solely because of the fact that she was an Uzumaki and had the famed clan's genes running through her body that she was able to wake up. Had she not, she would have gone into a permanent sleep after the extraction.

Whilst she was asleep, iwa's nightmare came true. The one thing that they didn't want happening happened. Minato Namikaze came and unleashed hell on the village that dared to kidnap his fiancé.

Whereas konoha had given Minato the nickname of the yellow flash, Iwa had given him the nickname of the butcher. He had torn multiple families apart thanks to his famed jutsu and he planned on breaking many more.

That was something that could be done at a later date though. Right now he had far more important matters to attend to with the relocation of Kushina back to konoha being paramount to all of this. When Minato saw semen that was pooled inside his fiancé, he vowed that there was going to be hell to pay for!

 **x-X-x**

It had been a testing two months for Minato to say the least. As much as he hated himself. This new Kushina after the rape wasn't the same person that he had fallen in love with.

Boy did he feel like a piece of shit because of it. He knew that when she was struggling and needed him there, Minato receiving the promotion to Hokage, he was not. It didn't matter what valid reasons he had for why he wasn't there for Kushina in her time of need. The simple fact was that he was not and she was taking that departure hard.

She didn't have much time that she wasn't by herself. Mikoto had j was busily focusing on the arrival of her baby boy Itachi who was due in the next month or so. And the less said about Tsunade the better, no one but the Hokage knew why she was allowed to leave the village whilst the war was still going on.

The only thing that Kushina was happy about was the fact that despite the constant rape whilst the Bijuu was being extracted, the maiden herb that she had been on had held strong. She had not gotten pregnant and had to have her child have one of those violent fuckers as a parent.

She still very much had the goal of having Minato as the father of her children. Speaking of…

"Minato!" Kushina said with excitement for the first time since she was no longer a jinchuuriki. Hearing the way that his fiancé spoke made Minato instantly turnaround from making dinner with a grin on his face. He had no idea what she wanted to talk about and to be honest, he didn't care about it; the fact that she was speaking with enthusiasm enough for the blonde haired man.

"What is it lovely!?" he asked curiously as he ran to the location from where he heard her voice. It was the bathroom. Minato was in for another surprise when he walked into the bathroom as he saw the first smile on the face of Kushina in a long time.

"I'm pregnant." Kushina simply said. It was all that she needed to say. It was all that Minato needed to hear.

"That's wonderful" Minato said as tears started forming down his own eyes as there was nothing that the Yondaime Hokage wanted more than having a family of his own after being an orphan.

He couldn't contain himself and hugged his fiancé even harder. It seemed like that after all of this time with Kushina being sad, she was finally smiling just that little bit more. Minato was over the moon as he hoped that this would mean he would get his wife back.

 **x-X-x**

"Hokage-sama, there is no easy way for me to say this. You have motor Neuron Disease. This is a terminal disease which at best gives you 5 years before you pass away. Motor Neuron Disease is a disease which slowly makes the connection between your brain to your chakra and muscles worse as time go on. Since they never get used, they atrophy."

The head medical ninja stated with a sad look on his face. As much as his heart and mind were with the patient, he struggled to not think about just what this would do to his home as it would no longer have a Kage. He couldn't help that some of the vulture in the political climate would take advantage of this if it was ever heard.

Shock and fear went through both Kushina and Minato who were in the room. They were stunned into silence as they struggled to process just what had been said to them. When it had registered though… "What! What do you mean there is no cure!? Surely there has to be something that you can do!" Kushina screamed as she realised that she had just been told her husband was going to die. She was not going to stand for it!

It was more than just her desires of not being a widow though. The woman had to think of her gestating baby. Naruto was going to be born soon and she needed her husband to be there for her son. She knew that she had been very lucky to live after the Kyubi extraction and childbirth was a huge risk for the red haired woman. She wasn't entirely sure that she was going to make it which was why Minato had to live. He had to live for the unborn Naruto.

"I'm very sorry Kushina-san. This isn't something that I have the expertise in and none of the other doctors here have managed to cure this but as of now, once diagnosed, there has never been a survivor.

"Well maybe if we get Tsunade-sama back here then she will be able to heal Minato. I mean she is the best medic in the world right!?" Kushina scrambled to find a way which meant that she didn't have to bury her husband.

Minato was quiet throughout all of this. "Tsunade-sama might indeed be a better fit for this type of disease but since she is not here in the village, we can't rely on her to solve this problem."

Before Kushina could say anything, Minato felt a tug on one of his kunai. It was the same one that he had given to Kakashi that if he was in danger, send a pulse of chakra and he will arrive.

"I'm sorry. Kakashi is in trouble. I must leave you two at the moment but we will discuss this when I come back. Also, consider this an S-class secret. No one out of us three is to know of this and no one will speak of this without my consent. Do I make myself clear?" Minato questioned more so to the doctor as he had complete faith in his wife having his best interests at heat.

When he got the nods, Minato activated the Hiraishin jutsu and disappeared in a flash.

 **x-X-x**

Luckily Minato arrived at the time that he did as he managed to arrive at the scene of Kakashi holding the chidori in his hand with Rin being right in the firing line. "What is going on here!?" Minato questioned as he looked on with shock, rapidly trying to make heads of the situation at hand.

"Minato-sensei!" Kakashi cried in jubilation. He was almost going to do something that he would have never forgotten. He was thankful that his sensei was here. Kakashi also knew that time was of the essence with the multiple ANBU and jonin ninjas chasing after them.

"Kirigakure managed to turn Rin here into a jinchuuriki with a dodgy seal. They plan on sending her to Konoha and by the time she gets there, her seal will break and unleash the three tails onto Konoha."

"I see Kakashi. Thanks for that. You two have done enough for now. Let me handle this." Both Rin and Kakashi knew never to argue with their sensei when he spoke like this. His voice was ice cold and they knew what was going to happen next. There was going to be death and there was lots of it.

There was a reason why he was the Hokage of Konoha after all.

It took less than a minute for Minato to finish what he set out to do with all of the Kirigakure ninjas falling victim to the fabled Flying Thunder God.

"Okay Rin. I need to have a look at the seal to see what we are dealing with here." Rin nodded and turned around to show her sensei the seal that was placed on her back.

Minato studied it for a few minutes before he spoke up. The suspense was killing both Kakashi and Rin. "I see. This type of seal has an expiry date." That was not at all what Minato's two students wanted to here. They wanted reassurances that everything was going to be alright.

"The good thing though in regards to this seal, the chakra network of the demon is not tied into yours so you will not get to use the demon's chakra." Rin wasn't exactly sure how this was a good thing but she wasn't going to ask her sensei. This was his speciality. She didn't even plan on using the Bijuu's chakra anyway.

Minato saw the look though. "This is good because it will make the extraction process that much easier. There will be much less complications involved and there will be a high chance of you surviving without any negative side effects." That was the type of news that Kakashi wanted to hear. He didn't want to lose another friend.

"Now I will place a better seal over the existing one until we get back to Konoha and I have some time to develop a proper jinchuuriki seal for the new host." With that said, the Yondaime Hokage got to work.

One could only what would have happened if Minato hadn't arrived in time.

 **x-X-x**

As the trio of ninjas made their way home from the land of water, they were not the only ones who were making their way back to konoha from an extended absence. Jiraiya was as well with valuable information that would definitely help konoha.

He had received information from his spy in the land of water Daimyo's camp. His escort had overheard rumours that a purge of bloodlines was being thought about. She even used her expert seduction skills to find out this was true and got a copy of it in writing.

Immediately, it was passed onto Jiraiya who grinned when he saw what was contained in the scroll. He could kill two birds with one stone.

Before he did what he planned on doing though, Jiraiya knew that for something of this magnitude. He would need to run it by his boss or rather, his student.

Given his fame, Jiraiya made a move to enter the village without having to go through the rigmarole of signing in. he knew that he could get away with it.

"Hey Minato, what's up? How's Kushina and Naruto holding up?" Jiraiya questioned as he knew that the due date was very soon.

"Naruto is doing wonderfully fine but Kushina unfortunately isn't as strong as what she once was." Minato said and Jiraiya didn't press for any more information. He knew that the extraction was a touchy subject and didn't want to say anything that he couldn't take back.

"Oh, so what's been happening whilst I have been away?" Jiraiya curiously questioned as he hadn't been in the village for a few months.

Minato grinned which made Jiraiya curious. "Well we managed to get another Bijuu!" The grin on his face was hard to take away. It was a bit of pride that Minato was the person to bring two Bijuu's into the village's military.

"What!? How'd that happen and which one was it!?" Jiraiya asked as his eyes almost bulged out of his brain. With the departure of the Kyubi, konoha's military muscle was severely weakened and they needed to get back up to the top.

"Kirigakure turned Rin into a ticking time bomb essentially with the Sanbi. Their intention was to get her to return to konoha and have the sea break on our village. Luckily Kakashi used one of my kunai and I was able to kill the incoming Kirigakure ANBU and Jonin before anything could happen."

"So what happened with the seal? Since I haven't heard anything about a giant turtle running all over the place, I guess it was solved?"

"Kind of. Rin has a few more months on the seal before the Bijuu has to be removed from her and placed into a new host. The seal that was placed on her had a time limit and I have managed to extend that but it is not a permanent solution." Judging by the frown on his face, it was clear to Jiraiya that they hadn't found a replacement host just yet.

"Have you found a host yet?" Jiraiya questioned, hoping to confirm what he assumed. When he got a shake of the head, he grinned. "Well I think I might have a whole host of candidates you can choose from." This got a curious stare from Minato who wondered what it was that his sensei had concocted in his brain. "Have a look at this Gaki."

As Jiraiya said this, he chucked over the scroll to his student and waited with a grin on his face. "This… This is great Jiraiya. This is something that we can use to great effect and strengthen konoha a whole lot! How did you manage to find out about this!?"

Jiraiya merely grinned. "You know I can't tell you that Minato. There is a reason why I am a spy hahaha. In all seriousness do you want me to head out and act as a diplomatic envoy? Time is running out and the more time we wait the less effective this is going to be." Minato did know this because once the order was given, there would be very less shinobi to transfer villages.

"Okay, do it. You have free reign to do whatever you feel is necessary to get the bloodline clans of Kirigakure here." Jiraiya nodded when he heard this and made his way to the door before Minato spoke up. It's nothing important sensei but when you get back, there is something that I want to talk to you about." Jiraiya didn't think much of it and nodded although Minato was acting a little weird now that he thought about it.

 **x-X-x**

 **Two years later**

Despite it being two years since the day that Jiraiya had come back with three clans, all of which had bloodlines which were coveted, he still couldn't wrap his head around the amount of change that had happened since the tail end of the third great shinobi war. Never in a million years would he have thought that Konoha would have lost the Kyubi. It was the most prized possession of the village hidden in the leaves.

The part that managed to baffle Hiruzen Sarutobi was the fact that despite losing the Kyubi, Konoha was arguably in a more beneficial position. They had essentially traded the Kyubi for the Yonbi and the Sanbi. It wasn't a straight swap though as Kirigakure got their hands on the Gobi.

In addition to the Bijuu swap deal seemingly going on, Konoha managed to persuade the three bloodline clans of Kirigakure to come and join Konoha. The easiest to get the services of Kaguya clan as they were much like the Inuzuka and once they learnt of the planned betrayal of Kirigakure, they had no trouble whatsoever of leaving Kiri for konoha. Heck, they even wanted to join as they knew the stories of how konoha treated their bloodline holders.

The Yuki clan were the smallest of the lot but once they found out the academy and how it was a place that you actually wanted to send your kids to, they were all for it.

It was the Hozuki clan however that provided the toughest nut to crack in terms of leaving the village. In hindsight, Jiraiya knew that he could have done better but Hiruzen was glad with the results. Sure, they had to be promised with the Sanbi getting placed into one of their clan members but that was a price worth paying for the founding clan of Kirigakure.

Sure, the price was steep but for a clan that rich in ability, it was a price worth paying. He knew it was a risky decision and he definitely heard about it from Danzo, Koharu and Homura. There was also anger from the clans already a part of Konoha who felt like they deserved the Sanbi more than the new clan.

A whole lot of pressure was hoisted onto the shoulders of the Hozuki clan but as it turned out, they were model shinobi and completed mission after mission so far at least. With little Mangetsu being the jinchuuriki of the Sanbi, Hiruzen could only hope that he and Naruto got along.

 _Ahh yes Naruto. Minato and Kushina's little boy. Well he is not so little now_ Hiruzen thought to himself as he saw the boy just yesterday. What happened with Naruto was not something that Hiruzen expected.

He did expect the fact that Minato would seal the Bijuu into his own son as he wasn't the type of person to ask a family to hand over their son when he himself wasn't willing to do it. The problem was that Minato kept his condition private until he had to inform people of what was going on. Hiruzen was one of the lucky few that found out early and helped ease Minato out of his position.

As much as Minato wanted to be the Hokage, he simply wasn't good enough for the job anymore which meant that Hiruzen returned to his role as the Sandaime Hokage. What was surprising however for Hiruzen was the will that Minato had left. The will requested that he adopt Naruto into his clan and raise him. The former Hokage had stated that because Naruto had the Yonbi inside of him, it would make sense to allow Naruto to grow up in the family of monkeys. It would provide the best environment for Naruto to learn about his Bijuu and be able to use it properly.

Hiruzen didn't deny that his home would probably be the best place for Naruto since he was the jinchuuriki of a monkey. With Kushina having passed away during the childbirth and Minato falling a year and a half after Naruto had been born, it wouldn't be much of an adjustment.

He was definitely thankful that his daughter in law had taken a liking to Naruto and decided that she would raise him after spending some time with the boy. With Asuma having left for the guardian ninjas and his other son off on a long term mission, it was a big decision to make but he couldn't be prouder with his daughter.

It would provide Naruto with a much better environment to grow rather than what the other potential environment for Naruto was. A life on the road with Jiraiya was not a good option.

Looking back on the changes that happened over the past few years, Hiruzen could safely say that if konoha got through the next few years unscathed, once the teething period was over, konoha would be in a much better position.

With Naruto, Mangetsu and the Uchiha clan heir all having being born in the last year, there was promise that the future was in capable hands.

 **x-X-x**

 **4 years later**

"How are you feeling Naruto-kun? Today is a big day today and is the first day in the academy." Hiruzen questioned to the little boy. Despite the fact that Hiruzen was extremely busy, he knew this would be a day that Naruto treasured and that was why he wouldn't miss it for anything in the world.

"I'm feeling good grandpa. I get to go to the academy and learn about being a ninja whilst having fun with all of my friends." Hiruzen smiled. That was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"That's very good Naruto-kun but just remember that the academy is very important. You don't want to slack off there and get bad grades." Hiruzen sagely offered to his adopted grandson.

Naruto shook his head hard. "No I would never do that! I wanna be the Hokage and I gotta study hard to get to the top like you don't I gramps!? The big grin was ever present on the face of Naruto as he said this. It was definitely clear to see who exactly his role model was.

"Now remember Naruto, the academy isn't just about proving who the better shinobi in training is. I want you to go in there and have fun. Play with your existing friends and make new friends. This is supposed to be the happiest times of your life so I want you to make the most of them okay honey?" Biwako said with worry in her eyes. Despite the fact that she had had two kids already, this was not any easier.

"Okay grammy! I pwomise I'll do it. I'm gonna have heapsa fun!" The blonde haired boy responded with a big toothy grin.

"Just be careful out there honey. The life of a ninja is not something that is easy and there is a reason why a lot of people drop out. I want you to be safe." Hiruzen smiled as he watched the interaction between his wife and his adopted grandson. He originally questioned whether adopting Naruto would be good but it had turned out to be a great decision. Biwako, whether she admitted it or not had been looking for a purpose now that both of her kids were now fully fledged adults and Naruto was the perfect one. She had never lost her love for children despite being too old to have another of her own.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yet antother story I know... This one is definitely an AU. Originally I wanted to make a story with the yonbi but realised that a story like that would be too overpowered in terms of konoha vs the other shinobi villages. With the premise that I have set, this should provide a good setting for the story.

As you can see, i have aged Naruto to be in a different peer group as I get tired of readomg stories with the same characters over and over. Hopefully this one excites you guys as much it does me!

Please Review and let me know how what you think of it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Goodbye Grandma" Naruto said whilst waving to Biwako. Today was a big day and he knew it too. The atmosphere around the village had changed slightly from what there normally was. It was a bit more serious than what he was used to. With the war having finished a bit over a year ago, the mood of the village was returning to what Naruto had been told was normal.

What Naruto didn't know was why. Today was the first day of the academy after the end of the shinobi war. It had sparked widespread reviews into every single facet of the operations of the shinobi village. There was a large amount of things that had been found which could have been improved on.

The part of the study that was deemed least efficient was the academy. For the past generation, konoha had been relying on the Jonin-sensei to provide the bulk of the training to the potential shinobi. This put a lot of faith into the Jonin that they would be able to properly educate their students correctly.

If the genin had a bad teacher, their career would be stunted. It might possibly be harmed to the point that the genin never recovered from it and all of that potential had been lost. It was no secret to the world that konoha's military had to rely on individual brilliance of a few shinobi rather a large amount of quality ninjas. Sure, they could stand toe to toe with the smaller villages but when it came to fighting off Kumo and Iwa, Konoha heavily relied on their top few ninja.

The plan with the new curriculum was to make it so that they would produce a higher median standard of shinobi so that when a true army destroyer was produced, there wasn't as much of a gap between the shinobi forces. It meant that if there was an unexpected death like what happened to Minato, then the village wouldn't suffer as much of a setback.

With this being the first academy class since the change in curriculum had been made, a lot of eyes were on this year's class to see just how fruitful these changes were.

All of this was information that Naruto wasn't aware of though as he followed the academy teacher into the room.

"Can everyone please take a seat" A woman with black hair stated. As he heard this, Naruto gravitated to where his friends were. In the end, Naruto was sitting next to Itachi and Mangetsu. They were his two best friends.

"Thank you children for doing that. Now, I will go on to explain to you how the academy will work. If any of you have any older siblings, this will be slightly different to how they were taught." When she saw that most of the students got this, Suzume continued on.

"Okay so today we won't be doing apart from getting to know one another. Tomorrow will be the day where we start doing some tests to see how much what skill levels you all possess. That way, we will be able to tailor the work to make everyone become the best that they could be. Does that sound good?"

Seeing the nods that she got from her students, Suzume smiled. She hoped that this was going to be a good class. "Okay, Now I will tell you that this will be harder than previous years so you will have to put in the hard work but the results that you get out of this will be much better than before. This new program will hopefully make you as good as chunins as you leave the academy. Does that sound cool?"

Naruto for one found this cool and nodded his head hard. Mangetsu was much the same and Itachi, well he was living up to his surname. "Okay then kids, we will go around the room and when I point to you, I want you to say your name and one thing that you enjoy doing right?"

 **x-X-x**

"So today we will be doing numerous tests. The first one is a basic numeracy and literacy test" cue the groaning. "Now before you say that, ninjas need to know how to read, write and count to a high level just like civilians. It is a basic requirement for everyone." When the kids heard this, the pretty much knew that they had no choice. If they wanted to be a shinobi then they had to do this.

Suzume then started handing out the tests to all of the kids. Once everyone had gotten a piece of paper, she signalled for the test to begin. What they didn't know was that Suzume was actually using this time to study the kids herself. Just from watching this, she could get a good idea on what each of her students' strengths were. Of course it was not a guaranteed judge but she was pretty confident that she knew who were going to be the better students in her class.

As expected the trio of the Sarutobi, Uchiha and Hozuki children all looked like they would have highly promising shinobi careers. Despite this being a written test which very few kids liked, those three kids in particular were not slacking off and giving it their full abilities.

This was the part of teaching that Suzume enjoyed. She enjoyed building relationships with children and watching them develop and become smarter, stronger and most importantly, better people.

 **x-X-x**

"So what did you think of that test, I mean it was pretty easy right?" Naruto questioned to which Itachi nodded in agreement. "So whaddya think will be next. I want it to be a fighting one!" The blonde haired boy said with a grin on his face.

Mangetsu shook his head. "They won't do that. Us clan kids have more training than the civilians so it won't be fair." When he heard this, it put a downer on Naruto's spirits.

"I asked my dad last night what we would be doing today. He said it will be only written tests and basic physical tests. I don't think we will do anything other than running and maybe some push ups or chin ups." Itachi stated to which Naruto and Mangetsu looked at him.

"Wow! That's the longest I've ever heard Itachi speak!" Naruto replied with an amazed expression on his face.

"Hn."

Mangetsu chuckled when he heard what Itachi had to think about that. Before anything more could happen, the bell rang and all of the kids had to go back to their classrooms. The trio of genin hopefuls were no different.

"Quiet everyone." Suzume said to her students and thankfully she didn't have to say it again. "Since you are all refreshed from morning tea, we will be doing some physical tests." Some of the boys grinned. Naruto was one of them.

Following their teacher, Suzume led the students out to the field and stood in the clearing. "The first thing we will be doing is timing how fast you can run over a short distance." The chunin then went through the motions and used the shadow clone jutsu. She then handed the clone a stop watch.

All of the students who noticed this happen looked on with interest as that was something that they hoped they would be able to do one day. "I want you to form a line behind this line. When I say go, I want whoever is at the front of the line to run as fast as they can to the line set by my clone."

It was a pretty straight forward test. Whoever got to the other place first was the best at this test. It was an easy measurement for kids to understand.

 **x-X-x**

"I still call that test crap." Naruto said with a frown on his face and a pout on his lips.

Mangetsu grinned. "You're just jealous that Itachi and that Kimimaro kid managed to beat you. You were saying how you were going to ace it but that never happened now did it."

"Yeah well I still beat you" Naruto wasn't the most mature of people so what did he do? He stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"I never said I was going to win."

"Hpmh. Well I know I'm going to win the next one."

"Just like last time huh?"

"Just… shut up"

Itachi smirked at the interactions with his friends. He liked hanging around them. They didn't force him to be like them and they simply let him be himself which was introverted.

"Class, the next test is a push up test. I want each of you to line up and get into the push up position. There will be a beep which means you do a push up. You will wait until you here the next beep before you do another push up. If you fail to do a push up before the next beep, you will lose and your score will be tallied. The winner will be the person who does the most push ups." When Suzume said this, Naruto looked at Mangetsu and smirked. Mangetsu took this as a direct challenge and grinned as well. It was clear to see that this was the beginning of a healthy rivalry.

Itachi, not wanting to be left behind silently vowed to do as best as he could.

Because a lot of the children had not trained before this test quickly who had previous training. Push ups weren't exactly a common thing unless you had a specific goal in mind. The civilian children quickly started falling off around the 5 mark.

This didn't stop Naruto as he saw his future comrades dropping down to the ground. He saw that Suigetsu was still going strong and it didn't look like he had even moved a muscle. With newfound determination, Naruto continued on.

Despite his size, Makaro Akimichi was giving it a good crack as was Torune Aburame and Fu Yamanaka. At twelve push ups though, the three couldn't do another one before the beep. Makaro was the closest one but unfortunately hadn't locked out his arms so it didn't count.

The real surprising thing was that Hana Inuzuka managed to get one more than those boys and hit 13, something that she never thought that she could do. She was really happy with that.

This left the title of more push ups down to 4 ninjas in training. Kimimaro was the first to fail out of that group with a highly respectable amount of was next and managed to reach 18 before he couldn't get any more. It was then that this became a battle of jinchuurikis.

"It's just you and me Mangetsu. See I told you I was going to win." Naruto said with a grin despite panting and there being sweat on his forehead.

"You still have to beat me and I'm not gonna let you win!" Mangetsu determinedly stated. He didn't want to have to deal with the aftermath of Naruto winning. His ego was big and ugly enough as it was.

"23. This is really impressive you two." Suzume said although she knew why they were so far above the rest of their peers. She had been briefed by the Sandaime as to their respective conditions so she reasoned that this was because of the Bijuus housed inside of them. There was no way else to explain this much of a disparity amongst students.

Both Mangetsu and Naruto grinded out their reps as they struggled to push their bodies back up to the starting position. At this point it wasn't even about the numbers. It was about bragging rights. You didn't want your best friend to be able to say that he is better than you. Unfortunately for Mangetsu, he didn't have that option as he collapsed. His mind was willing but his flesh was soft and spongy.

"See, I told you I would win that! Owie, my chest and arms hurt!" Naruto said with a big grin on his face despite the pain that he was in. He had won the challenge just as he had said he would. That was all that mattered to him at this point in time.

 **x-X-x**

"So how do you like the academy Naruto?" Hiruzen questioned as it was one of the rare days that he managed to get off work early and spend time with his family.

"I like it a lot. I made a new friend recently. His name is Kimimaro. He's kinda quiet but he's really nice." Hiruzen had to struggle for a bit until he remembered the last name of the boy. _Ahh yes, the kaguya child. There numbers have been dwindling heavily recently._

"That's great Naruto-kun. So how are your other friends, Mangetsu and Itachi?" Hiruzen questioned. Those two had come over on numerous occasions and he liked what he had seen of the two boys. They seemed to treat Naruto as a real friend and not as the Hokage's grandson. They treated him as an equal and if he screwed up, they would let him know about it.

"They're annoying." Hiruzen noticed the frown on the face of his adopted grandson so he waited to hear what the boy had to say before changing his facial expression. "If it wasn;t for them I would be the best at the academy no questions asked. They make me work harder."

Hiruzen chuckled when he heard this. It was good to hear that Naruto had competition. He didn't want the boy to develop an over inflated ego which would have happened if he was that much better than his peers.

"Even Kimimaro is pushing me. He is really good at taijutsu. He's the best out of everyone in our year because he has that stupid thing with his bones or whatever." _Ahh, so he has activated his bloodline this early? That is really impressive._ Naruto saw the surprise on the face of his grandpa. "Yeah, he's pretty good. He even made Itachi's eyes turn red. I think he called it the sharingan or something?"

"Wow, he made Itachi activate the sharingan that early? That is really impressive."

"Ehh, I mean he's good at taijutsu but I'm way better than him at ninjutsu. I'm better than everyone at ninjutsu, well maybe Mangetsu but he's pretty good as well." Naruto rambled between eating an after academy snack. This time it was sushi.

"Sounds like you have got a lot of competition Naruto-kun." Hiruzen mused as he looked at his grandson.

"Yeah well then you hafta train me some more gramps! If I'm gonna be the Hokage like you are then I'm gonna need to be strong just like you." Naruto didn't miss a beat in asking the Sandaime Hokage for lessons. A cheeky grin was on his face.

"Alright then you rascal. Come on outside and I will show you the taijutsu style of the monkeys." The elder Sarutobi chuckled as he watched Naruto sprint outside.

"Yatta! Come on grandpa, you hafta hurry as I wanna get as strong as you!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm.

"I' coming, I'm coming Naruto, not all of us are as young and fresh as you are."

Hiruzen had no idea how, but he definitely attributed the learning the taijutsu style of the monkey clan to the fact that Naruto was the jinchuuriki of the Yonbi. There was no other way around it. Naruto should have spent far more time practising especially, given his age. It took the Sandaime 6 months to get it down properly and yet, Naruto had managed it in a week. Hiruzen knew that Logically, there was no correlation between Naruto and the style but then, ninjas and logic didn't exactly go hand in hand.

It was either that or the fact that Naruto was an extremely talented shinobi with mountains of potential. Hiruzen didn't think that the gap was that much considering that he himself was pretty talented at that age himself.

 **x-X-x**

 **One Year later**

Naruto's birthday party had just ended and Biwako was taking it upon herself to walk Kimimaro home. She and her husband had nodded when they saw him coughing. Something didn't seem right so the wife of the Hokage decided to take matters into her own hands.

With the previous head medical officer having retired just after the third great shinobi war, Biwako had taken back her position much like her husband. Now that Naruto was in the academy, it meant that he was much less reliant on her and she had much more free time. Not wanting to waste away doing nothing, Biwako agreed to go back to her previous job although on a part time basis. Of course, if there was an emergency, she would go into the hospital but that was hopefully not going to be on a regular basis.

The kaguya clan had been dying out quickly. So much so that there were only three people remained of the kaguya clan and none of them were shinobi. Kimimaro was the closest to being a shinobi as he was in the academy at the moment and it was looking highly likely that he was going to get promoted to Genin. He was in the top 10% of his class.

The kaguya clan had been known for being foolhardy and ignoring orders. They would rush into battle regardless of who it was they were fighting against. This would be their downfall. If there was one positive out of this, it was that Kimimaro had at least learnt from his clan's mistakes and was determined to not let them be repeated.

He wasn't just fighting for himself after all. He was fighting for his family. He was fighting for his little cousin and his aunt. They lived in the slums and barely had enough money to live off. It was only thanks to the free shinobi training provided to Kimimaro that he was able to afford going to the academy. If it wasn't for that Kimimaro didn't know what they would do.

That was the whole reason why he was doing so well at the academy he thought. He needed to become a shinobi whereas everyone else merely wanted to become one. He had to provide enough money so that his family could live a more comfortable life. The money that his aunt was earning on minimum wage was simply not enough to provide a quality standard of living for 3 people.

The academy student was confident that this was going to end soon though as in a year and a half, his minimum three year academy conscription would be over and he could apply to take the genin exam. Kimimaro knew that he was going to take the test and he was going to pass.

Also, by that point in time, his cousin would be entering the academy as she had professed a desire to become a shinobi just like her "big brother". That would also allow his aunt to not have to spend as much time looking after her daughter and focus more on her career to provide a better life.

If only his cough would go away. Well at least that was why Naruto's grandmother was here. Apparently she was a skilled medic and hopefully would solve his cough.

 **x-X-x**

As Biwako was overseeing Kimimaro as she felt that there was something affecting him, Naruto was with his grandfather in all but blood. So was everyone in attendance. They knew what a momentous day this was. Even Hiruzen's son and daughter in law were there despite them preparing for the birth of their first son.

"Now Naruto, here is my present to give to you." As the Sandaime said this, he unravelled the large scroll which he had been holding. Naruto grinned with excitement. This was something that he had been bugging his grandfather for the past year and a half. The response he always got was when he was older, he would be able to sign the contract.

Well now it was time. "Yatta! Finally, I get to sign the Monkey contract!" he grinned in excitement as he rushed over to the contract.

"Naruto, I want you to promise me that you will be mindful of this jutsu and not try and use all of your chakra into it. This jutsu has the potential to summon Enma which demands a lot of chakra. At the very least cause chakra exhaustion and at the worst…" Hiruzen let this hang as he hoped the seriousness of this would sink in.

"Got it, don't use that much chakra for the jutsu. How much should I use?" Naruto nodded. He was as serious as a 7 year old could be.

"Probably twice as much as the replacement jutsu as starting point. You will only be able to summon baby monkeys but as you get more refined in using chakra, you will be able to add more safely."

Naruto nodded when he heard this and then went ahead and signed the contract. He had already pestered long enough about how he wanted to learn it that he found out every detail about it. Naruto cut his finger and signed his name in blood. Hiruzen was impressed by the healing ability given to Naruto from the Yonbi.

Whilst it was not as strong as the one Kushina had, It was still something that you wished to have.

"Be careful Naruto." Hiruzen said but it fell on deaf ears as Naruto went through the hands seals. In his eager state he accidentally channelled much more chakra into the jutsu than what he expected to.

A large cloud of smoke appeared signifying that Naruto didn't have good control over the jutsu; something which was expected since it was his first time using it. What appeared was a black haired monkey with a grin on its face. "Hey, who are you?"

Naruto grinned despite the sweat forming on his brow from the use of the jutsu. "My name is Naruto, what's yours?"

"Mine's Saruzaru. Ya got any food?"

"Haha, you two are much alike. I am sure you will get along well together." When the young monkey heard this, it turned and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi. That was a face that he was familiar with.

"Hiruzen-sama. It is nice to meet you again." The monkey bowed in front of the Sandaime. Hiruzen chuckled.

"It's nice to meet you too Saruzaru. Naruto here is the most recent person to sign the monkey contract and he summoned you. I assume you two will be seeing a lot of each other over the years so you might as well get to know one another."

Naruto grinned. "Hey, you wanna go play?" Naruto asked with a grin on his face which Saruzaru mirrored.

As the two young children went off to go and play, Hiruzen summoned his long-time friend. "It's good to see you my friend."

" **It is indeed Hiruzen. Is there a reason you have summoned me or is this just friends chatting**?" Enma questioned as he didn't immediately notice any form of danger.

The elder Sarutobi shook his head. "No, this one isn't combat related. Naruto just signed the monkey contract if you were not already aware. He is already over there playing with young Saruzaru."

" **Ahh yes, Minato's child. I was not aware of it. I remember holding him when he was an infant. He sure has grown since then and from the looks of things, he will grow up to be just as strong as you.** "

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes, I see Naruto becoming a very strong shinobi one day. That is even without the Yonbi helping him. Naruto has the determination and drive to one day become the Hokage and I can see it happening easily. If he ever is to become the Hokage though, he will need to be able to have full control over the chakra. Not because of its strength but because of the danger it provides to konoha."

" **Yes, I agree. Does he know about the Bijuu sealed inside him yet?** "

"No, he doesn't and I don't plan on telling him until he has matured more and is in the field of duty. There doesn't seem to be any benefit to telling him now and it is not as if the village knows who our jinchuuriki hosts are." Sarutobi conceding that he would have to tell one day. Hiruzen planned on telling Naruto before his first C-rank mission. It would hopefully give Naruto as much time as possible to mature.

" **I see. Naruto being the jinchuuriki of the monkey demon is a first for the monkey clan. I wonder if us being associated with Naruto will help him in regards to his Bijuu.** "

"I hope so. That was the theory that Minato had and was why he requested that I adopt Naruto in the first place. Over time though, I have come to look at Naruto as if he was my own grandson. I suppose that was another reason as to why Minato request that I adopt him. I think that despite the age difference, Naruto sees myself and Biwako as more his parents since he didn't have any of his own."

" **About his parents, does he know who they are?"** Enma asked as he saw much of the boy's father in Naruto.

Hiruzen shook his head negatively. "No. Much like the Yonbi, I would like to wait until Naruto is told about them. You can never be too careful around children when it comes to secrets that should be kept private. Whilst everyone is still recovering from the war, if word got out about Naruto being Minato's son, who knows what that could cause other villages, especially Iwa to do?"

Enma agreed with this sentiment.

 **x-X-x**

"That's him Hiseki! That's the guy that is making me look real bad!" One of the people from Naruto's class said as he pointed at Naruto.

"Okay Ginseki. Oh, that's the Sandaime's grandson. I'm not touching him! If I even lay a finger on him, the Hokage will dissect me!"

"But he's not like Sandaime-sama at all! He has blonde hair and all the Sarutobi's we learnt about at school have brown hair! I bet he's just pretending to be one!" Ginseki shouted as he pointed at Naruto.

At this point, he was saying things that Naruto was able to hear. He didn't know what to think. As far as he was concerned, he didn't have anything against Ginseki. To hear the boy say such hurtful things made him both angry and sad at the same time.

"Shut up or I will smash your face in you dumbass!" Naruto shouted out as he was still reeling from the fact that someone called him adopted. He had always wondered about his parents as he knew that Biwako and Hiruzen were far too old to be them but he had never thought of something like this. It would however explain the fact that he was the only one in his family who had blonde hair; something of a rarity in Konoha.

Hiseki got angry. "Don't you dare threaten my little brother you adopted piece of shit. No one threatens the people I care about and gets away with it." The elder boy said with a snarl. He didn't care if this was indeed the son of the Sandaime.

Naruto got progressively angrier and angrier. He was heating up and he was happy for this fight to happen because he wanted to smash someone's face in. Ginseki who was watching on with excitement at seeing someone beat up the rookie of the year and take him down a few pegs noticed that the air around them was starting to get quite hot.

Hiseki started charging at Naruto. Despite being angry, he knew that he could get into some serious trouble if he used any of his weapons on a civilian. A few bruises from his fists should do the job.

Naruto got into the Sarutobi taijutsu style as he had been taught by his grandfather and hoped for the best. Whilst he had sparred with Saruzaru on many occasions and had sparred with people from his class, fighting up against a genin was a massive step up for the blonde haired academy student. Naruto didn't so much care if he lost this fight, he just wanted to deal more damage to his opponent.

Naruto dodged the incoming fist and threw one of his own in the direction of Hiseki. Unfortunately for Naruto, Hiseki was faster than anyone he had previously fought before. Sure, he wasn't as agile as Saruzaru but he didn't need to be. He simply had the raw speed to dodge Naruto's attacks.

Hiseki grinned when he realised how skilled Naruto was. He was faster than his opponent and planned to use that to his advantage. He kicked Naruto in the thigh and it connected solidly. Naruto grunted in pain but he didn't want to give his adversary the satisfaction of knowing what happened.

Neither of the two of them noticed the heat in the air surrounding them.

Frustrated at the fact that this guy who he had done nothing to was beating him, Naruto unintentionally tapped into the well that was his chakra. His punches carried more strength and his legs were faster. Naruto saw the incoming punch from Hiseki and instead of dodging the punch, Naruto caught Hiseki's wrist in his hand.

At first Hiseki was shocked that Naruto had managed to catch his fist and then that shock quickly turned into pain as he felt his hand rapidly rising in temperature. "Ahh!" The genin screamed as he saw heat waves coming from where Naruto's hand was. Thinking quickly, Hiseki kicked Naruto in the chest as hard as he could to create distance between the two.

Looking down at his hand, Hiseki saw that there were already blisters forming on his hand. "Ahh! What the hell was that!? That guy is a monster Ginseki! You should stay away from him! Let's get out of here." Ginseki followed his brother's lead. The two of them left Naruto there who merely dropped down to the ground and cried for the first time in a long time.

 **x-X-x**

Naruto walked home that day from school by himself and it gave him time to think seriously. There were a lot of things going through his mind at the moment and there was really only one person who could answer all of his questions. That person was the Sandaime Hokage.

"Gramps, can I speak to you?" Naruto questioned when he saw that his grandfather in all but blood had arrived home.

"Sure Naruto-kun, what is it that you want to talk to me about?" Hiruzen questioned with a small smile on his face. He expected this conversation to be about learning a new jutsu now that Naruto had become competent with the summoning jutsu that he had taught Naruto previously.

"Am I adopted?" That was definitely not the questioned that Hiruzen expected to hear and it threw him off guard. Ideally, he wanted to wait much longer before he had this conversation with Naruto.

"W-what makes you say that?" Hiruzen said although Naruto could tell there was a bit of nervousness behind his words.

The child frowned. "Someone at the academy said I wasn't a real Sarutobi because I don't have brown hair. It hurt when he said it but when I thought about it gramps, he's right. I look nothing like you or grandma."

Hiruzen sighed. "Come here Naruto." The Sandaime stated as he saw the tears on the brink of being released. That was all the confirmation that Naruto needed as he didn't need to be asked twice and ran towards the Sandaime for a hug. "This was a conversation I wanted to wait a bit longer before having."

With tears falling down his face, Naruto looked up with curious eyes. "Why's that grandpa?"

Hiruzen stroked Naruto's hair as he consoled the boy. "It's true Naruto. You were adopted by myself and Biwako-chan. The reason why I wanted you to wait a bit longer before telling you is that your parents were very infamous ninjas to the other villages. They were very strong and their enemies would stop at nothing to kill you if they found out you existed.

I would have liked to tell you but unfortunately that is an S-class secret. I know that if we told you who your parents are, you would try your best to keep the secret but since you are not that experienced, it would slip out." Naruto had to agree with the Sandaime on that assessment of him. He would try damn hard to keep the secret but he knew that he wasn't perfect.

"So my parents were really strong ninja and you promise that you will tell me who they are when you think I'm ready?" Naruto questioned to which Hiruzen nodded. "Pinky promise?" It was safe to say that his was a custom that Hiruzen was not completely across. It must have been some hip things kids did. Whatever it was, he obliged Naruto and they pinky swore on the topic at hand.

Naruto's uncertainty returned after the pinky promise. "W-what happened to them grandpa? D-did they die or what happened to them?" Naruto tentatively questioned as he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to hear the answer just in case it was bad. He knew though that if he didn't get an answer, the thoughts would plague his mind.

Hiruzen was firm with the look he sent Naruto. "Unfortunately yes Naruto-kun. Both of your parents died. Your mother died during childbirth and your father had a disease that was no one could cure. He died when you were two years old. They both loved you Naruto and would have wanted nothing more than to raise you as their own."

"Thanks gramps! It means a lot to me." Naruto replied through a muffled voice as he was speaking into the Hokage robes rather than to the Sandaime.

"Naruto, I want you to know that Biwako-chan and myself very dearly love you and think of you as our own. I'm not too sure how much you know about women but there is a age range that they can have kids and Biwako had passed that. When we adopted you, we treated you as if you were one of our own."

This made more tears fall down Naruto's face but for a different reason. For the first time today, these were tears of happiness. "Thank you jiji. I don't care if you're not my real grandpa, to me you are."

Hiruzen was moved by what his grandson in all but blood said. "Thank you Naruto-kun. That means a lot to an old man like me." He said as he bent down and gave Naruto a full bodied hug.

Once Naruto recovered enough, there was another thing on his mind that he wanted to talk about. "Gramps, the person who said those things fight me when I said some things back." In an instant, Naruto saw for the first time in his life just why the person he called grandpa was one of the arguably the strongest shinobi in the world. Despite it not being directed at him, Naruto had never felt so scared in his life.

"Naruto, I want you to tell me the whole story." Naruto didn't have to be told twice and promptly told the story of what happened today.

"I see. So this genin named Hiseki fought you. Do you know ninja, no matter their rank are expressly forbidden from harming civilians? I will have to have a talk to him."

Naruto wasn't really concerned about this. "He-he called me a monster grandpa. I-I'm not a monster am I?" The blonde haired boy said with a worried expression on his face. He didn't want to be a monster at all. He hated to think what his friends would do if they found out he was a monster. This was a very serious problem for a 7 year old.

"No you are not Naruto!" Hiruzen firmly stated whilst looking into Naruto's eyes. Naruto didn't exactly know why his grandfather was so serious. "Stay here Naruto, I will be back shortly.

Hiruzen didn't wait for an answer as he shunshined away so that he could go and confirm his theories. He came back shortly with a piece of chakra paper. "Naruto, this is something that you will be learning about shortly at the academy but with the events that just happened today, I think it can't hurt to give you a bit of a head start."

Naruto forgot what they were previously talking about and got excited. He was all for learning that would allow him to one up Itachi, Kimimaro or Mangetsu! "What is that gramps?"

Hiruzen smiled at Naruto's enthusiasm. "This here Naruto is a piece of chakra paper. You know how some people can use the elements to aid in their jutsus right?" When he saw a nod from the boy in front of him, he continued on. "Well everyone has some elements which are easier to learn and some which are harder to learn. This will tell us where your strengths lay."

"Sweet!" Naruto grinned. He hoped that this would lead to him learning more jutsus because at the moment, as it stood, he only knew the summoning jutsu and the academy three. He was confident that his friends knew more but weren't showing them.

"Naruto, I want you to channel your chakra into this piece of paper. We can tell what you are best at by the way it reacts to your chakra." The blonde haired boy did exactly what he was told and the sight before him was weird. To Hiruzen though, it was downright shocking. There were assumptions previously but this confirmed it. The Yonbi gave its jinchuuriki a bloodline.

He could only imagine the potential that Naruto could use the element when he mastered it.

"Ouch!" Naruto called out as he instantly dropped the contents of his hand onto the ground. The piece of paper had quickly turned into a small rock which was very hot. As it connected with the ground, it broke apart only for molten rock to fall out.

Hiruzen realised that if anything happened to the carpet, he would be a dead man. That was why he quickly used a water jutsu to wash away all of the remains and clean the carpet.

"That was is lava release Naruto. It is the combination of fire and earth. I want you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about it just yet. It will bring attention to you and not the good kind." The primary person behind this concern for Hiruzen was Danzo. He knew exactly what that man was capable of and didn't want him to have anything to do with Naruto or Mangetsu for that matter.

He didn't really like the sound of that as it seemed like he was getting nothing in return. This was something that he voiced to his grandfather. "Okay then but then you have to teach me about fire and earth jutsus then." A cheeky grin appeared on his face.

"I already planned on it." Hiruzen smiled to which Naruto started jumping up and down on the spot in excitement.

 _Thankfully Naruto didn't press for any more information on those subjects. He is too young to learn about the Yonbi. Hopefully Naruto can have the childhood that so many others didn't get to have._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

This chapter was mostly about fleshing out the relationship between Naruto and Hiruzen and also a bit longer than normal which is a bonus for you guys. It should give you an idea of how the next chapter is going to go.

At the moment I am currently mulling over who I want to be Naruto's sensei as he is fair bit older than canon and thus opens up the possibility for a range of different senseis to him and the rest of the graduating genin of his class. Let me know who you think would be a cool sensei other than Kakashi as I already have a plan in mind for him and am tired of seeing Kakashi being Naruto's sensei.


End file.
